Bodies gyrated, alcohol flowed and the animated chatter of men and women rose and fell, masking the song's fast lyrics.

From across the room, a man watched. He scanned the floor, his eyes hooded. He wasn't searching for anyone in particular. He was simply here to keep up appearances. To disguise the fact that inside he was a quivering mess.

He admired the glittered frocks, the painted eyelids, the thinly pointed stilettos. None of it appealed to him. Hundreds of girls, all carbon copies of one another. All searching for the same thing. All hoping to be singled out by at least one guy. All hoping to fight off their insecurities. He thought it was pathetic, but hell, who was he to judge. He'd been one of those guys before. The type that flattered a woman, used her body for pleasure and then never called. He wasn't exactly flawless himself.

Suddenly he felt a tug and he was drawn towards the centre of the dancefloor. There she was. Laughing, her head tossed back, her hair flowing down her back. She wasn't a conventional beauty, she wasn't stick thin nor heavily made up. She wasn't dressed in a short, tight, flimsy piece of material. She was just, real.

She bit her lip and his heart raced. She looked lonely, despite being surrounded by a sea of people. She scanned the room, looking past the interested faces and staring directly at him. Something inside him froze and by her paled face, he knew she had felt it too. Their eyes met for a split second and he noticed a hint of a smile. Their connection was broken instantaneously and he blinked, wondering if it had even taken place.

He needed to talk to her, to touch her arm, to make sure she was real and not a hallucination. Rising from his seat he pushed past the intoxicated couples and approached her. She seemed to acknowledge his presence before he even arrived. She looked at him apprehensively with her chocolate coloured eyes.

"Would you like to dance?" He asked. The rest of his existence depended on her answer.

"I would love too," she replied.

And with that, his life once again had purpose.

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